HUENENBERG, Switzerland & ZURICH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 13,
2009 -
Alcon (NYSE:ACL)
announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to
acquire ESBATech AG, a Swiss biotechnology company. Alcon will pay
ESBATech shareholders $150 million in cash at closing, plus
contingent payments of up to $439 million based upon the
achievement of future research and development milestones that
would be expected to create value for Alcon. ESBATech is a
clinical-stage biotechnology company that has been developing a
pipeline of proprietary single-chain antibody fragment therapeutics
for topical and local delivery for safe and convenient therapy.

“Biotechnology offers significant growth opportunities in
ophthalmology because it has the potential to deliver therapies
with superior efficacy and safety relative to existing
approaches,” said Sabri Markabi, M.D., Alcon's senior vice
president of research and development and chief medical officer.
“Combining ESBATech's proprietary antibody fragment
technology with our expertise in ophthalmic formulation and
capabilities in global development will strengthen Alcon's
leadership position in ophthalmology.”

ESBATech has advanced its antibody fragment technology to
preclinical and clinical stages in the eye for various diseases.
The company has several stable and soluble single-chain antibody
fragments in development, with its most advanced product candidate
progressed into Phase I and II studies relating to the treatment of
inflammatory ocular diseases.

“I am very proud of what our team has achieved in proving
clinically that our platform delivers therapeutic antibody
fragments with required drug-like properties,” said Dr.
Dominik Escher, chief executive officer of ESBATech. “All of
us at ESBATech are excited to join with Alcon to advance this
technology further and to develop products to treat serious eye
diseases so that more patients can see better.”

The agreement to acquire ESBATech includes all rights to its
technology for therapeutic application to the eye, including
age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, glaucoma,
dry eye and uveitis. Substantially all of the employees of ESBATech
will join Alcon upon the finalization of the acquisition. The
rights to the technology and products for application outside of
ophthalmology will be retained by the previous shareholders of
ESBATech and spun off into a separate new company, Delenex
Therapeutics AG.

“This acquisition is part of our ongoing strategy to
enhance access to multiple sources of technologies and compounds
that bolster our total research platform in support of innovative
products to treat eye disease,” said Kevin Buehler, Alcon's
president and chief executive officer. “We welcome Dr. Escher
and his highly qualified team of biotechnology experts who will
become the foundation of Alcon's biologics capability in the
future.”

As confirmation of the strategy to enhance the Alcon research
platform, this biologics capability acquisition comes on the heels
of Alcon's recent announcement of an agreement with AstraZeneca
that pairs Alcon's ophthalmic research capability with
AstraZeneca's rich drug libraries in a collaborative effort to
treat eye diseases. The ESBATech acquisition expands Alcon's
research capability outside of small molecules to the promising
field of proteins, antibodies and other large molecules.

About Alcon

Alcon, Inc. is the world's leading eye care company, with sales
of approximately $6.3 billion in 2008. Alcon, which has been
dedicated to the ophthalmic industry for 65 years, researches,
develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals, surgical
equipment and devices, contacts lens solutions and other vision
care products that treat diseases, disorders and other conditions
of the eye. Alcon operates in 75 countries and sells products in
180 markets. Alcon's majority shareholder is Nestlé, S.A.,
the world's largest food company. For more information on Alcon,
Inc., visit the Company's web site at
www.alcon.com.

About ESBATech

ESBATech is a Zurich, Switzerland-based, privately held,
clinical stage biotechnology company concentrating in research and
development of its antibody fragments for therapeutic applications.
ESBATech applies its proprietary screening platform IMMUNA and its
fully human single-chain antibody frameworks to generate product
candidates against targets of clinical relevance. Prior to the
acquisition, the company focused on three franchises:
ophthalmology, rheumatology and respiratory, advancing a pipeline
of novel antibody fragments for topical and/or local delivery, to
ensure safe and convenient patient therapy. For more information
about ESBATech, please visit the company's web site at
www.esbatech.com.

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